July 26, 2006

Kids have the most incredible way of entertaining themselves. Even in this day and age when there are so many options for entertainment. What I love is to see what happens when a child finds him or herself in a situation where there are no toys, no TV, no video games. For instance, my family and another family went on a picnic recently. The day was beautiful, we were outside away from most distractions and EVERYONE forgot a frisbee, ball, bat, etc...

So we played Tag. All of us. Kids and adults.

It was fun, exhilerating and exhausting! But the point is, fun can be had without anything at all but your imagination.

Here are a couple of great games of Tag you can introduce to your children. Play with them until you can't. The kids love it and it's great exercise.

Carry TagYou'll need a ball or some kind of object like a hat or shoe. One person is chosen to be "IT". Everyone else passes the object around to each other. The person holding the object is the person "IT" will try to tag. So, you will want to get rid of the object (which always has to be in plain sight) to the next closest person in order to be "Safe".

If you are carrying the object and need to get rid of it, all you need to do is touch the person closest to you with the object. That person MUST take the object at that time. If a person is tagged by "IT" while carrying the object, then the tagged person becomes "IT" and must give the object to the former "IT".

The new "IT" must count to 3 to give the former "IT" a chance to run away and get rid of the object.

Any player who drops the object automatically becomes "IT".

Another favorite is Flashlight Tag.You'll need a flashlight and play this game at twilight.

Make sure the playing area doesn't have a lot of holes or rocks that the players could trip over. The person chosen to be "IT" takes the flashlight and tries to tag the other players with the flashlight beam. Players are eliminated when "IT" tags you with the light. This goes on until there is only one remaining player.

The squeals of laughter and giggled protests you'll hear are like music to your ear.Enjoy!

_______________________________________________________

Are you interested in showing you child how to make paper airplanes? Check out my Web site Easy Paper Airplanes and my blog too. Lots of great info and another fun way to spend time with your child!_______________________________________________________